The Isle of Wight Council has confirmed that special educational needs (SEN) schooling will no longer be provided for children aged 5-11 at the Island Learning Centre in Newport.
Confirming plans previously reported by Island Echo, the Council has withdrawn primary provision from the Island Learning centre (ILC), effective from 1st September 2023. It will instead be replaced by an Island-based extension of Hampshire’s Primary Behaviour Service (PBS).
The PBS is an established service with a successful track record in short-term intervention, reductions in exclusion/suspension rates and good impact of work to improve policy and practice, at both individual pupil and whole school level with its annual survey consistently showing overwhelmingly positive impact and responses from schools.
It is also hoped that by separating the provision of primary and secondary specialist schooling, the ILC will be able to focus on just 1 phase and that demand can be better met. The current ILC staffing structure comes at significant cost as it has two dedicated sets of staff for different age phases, which the management committee believes is contributing to a budget deficit.
Alternative options considered included leaving things as they were or delaying the removal of primary provision within ILC until January 2024 to allow more time for the PBS to be established on the Island as currently no centre exists here.
It is proposed that the centre be located centrally with Barton Primary School in Newport has been identified as a potential site. It will provide 2 days per week, short-term intervention for up to 28 primary children per week.
Hopefully it will work better,but given Hampshire record on the Island probably not . About time we separated from them and gave our kids and workers a chance.
WENDY PERERA. You’re failing. You need to step aside. How can you take such an inflated salary whilst these services are being cut? Disgraceful.
Careful now. Nothing wrong with inflated salaries, especially at the taxpayers expense.
I thought Debbie Andre was in charge of education?
I think this is going to be a difficult time for the children who need this service. Such a school based service needs staff to support the children. Recruitment of such staff is becoming increasingly difficult. If the support offered by the behaviour service is simply to tell schools what they should be doing and then to retreat…these children will struggle.
Conservatives in action. Chipping yet more essential services for ordinary people in need.
Hardly ‘ordinary people’ just a lot of nere do wells, being overly funded in benefits from cradle to grave, and then, after having more benefits because they are ‘special’ expect us to fund them even more in special schools.
Get the parents to pay for it, they get extra for burdening society with a costly constantly needed child soon to be teen then adult, so they should do more hours to fund what they bought into the world as why should WE pay more taxes when they pay nothing.
Wrong again! – Independent’s have been in charge of Council for 2 years
The Island is becoming more overcrowded so necessary services will be unable to function !! The developers do not care that the infrastructure is not there for existing population however housing is the priority NOT the services that cannot cope
Is this school just for behaviour problems or children with special needs